What A Day - The Perks Of Being A Walmarter

Episode Date: July 16, 2020

All 5,300 plus Walmarts and Sam’s Clubs nationwide will begin requiring shoppers to wear masks next week. On the state level, half of the governors in the US have now instituted at least some kind of mask requirement in public settings. New safety recommendations from the National Academies of Science, Engineering,and Medicine say schools should prioritize younger children and children with special needs where it is safe and possible. But the committee offered no guidance on what level of infection makes in-person learning unsafe. And in headlines: verified Tweeters get hacked, RBG out of the hospital, and an update on Goya’s Beangate.

It's Thursday, July 16th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What A Day, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated after three hours of not being able to post tweets. Yeah, and feeling immediately saddened by all of the mean tweets about the blue checks. I can't help it that I worked at a place one time that got me verified. I'm a person of the people. Yeah, I think we should all just, you know, be kind to each other, no matter what color checks are next to our news.

On today's show, the latest on how children will or won't return to school in the fall, then some headlines. But first, the latest. New coronavirus cases are rising in almost every state. Some reopenings are turning into reclosings. Testing backlogs and hospital capacity issues continue in certain areas. And yet, and yet, we still lack a coherent national strategy to deal with the pandemic. As has been the case, cities, states, businesses, and individuals have had to take up the response themselves.

Case in point, masks. The latest and perhaps the biggest business to step into this arena is Walmart. So let's get into what they're saying and how this is actually going to work. Yeah, for sure. So beginning Monday at all 5,300 plus Walmarts and Sam's Clubs, which they also own, every shopper is going to be required to wear a mask. And the company claimed yesterday that already 3,500 or so locations are in places where there were these government mask mandates that were locally enforced. With this announcement, Walmart is joining other national retailers like Starbucks, Apple, and Costco in imposing masks in their stores. And also Kroger is instituting a policy like this as well in the coming days.

And so part of this is that the business community doesn't want to have to lock down again, of course, and masks are seen as a way to prevent that from happening. For instance, there was one analysis from Goldman Sachs in the last week that predicted that a nationwide mask mandate would prevent a possible $1 trillion loss from U.S. GDP. So obviously, public health officials don't think that masks negate any other helpful tools like social distancing. But if people are going to go out and if they're going to go out and shop, masks reduce possible transmission. Robert Redfield, the CDC director, recently said, perhaps optimistically, that, quote, I think if we could get everybody to wear a mask right now,

I think in four, six, eight weeks, we could bring this epidemic under control. OK, well, that timeline does really seem optimistic, but it's better than not trying at all. But back to Walmart. So it seems like a positive step, but I'm a little worried about the potential issues that could come up around enforcing masks on customers. I mean, we've all seen those videos of people losing their shit. Yes, that's exactly right. You know, if we only all shared the science-based understanding that these help us and our neighbors and the government could provide masks and ensure people don't have to go out if they don't want to or need to, we would be in a different place. But alas, here we are. But yes, to the point that you're making, Walmart is talking about having quote health ambassadors,

i.e. employees stationed near their store entrances to remind people to comply with this new policy. They said before it comes into play next Monday, they're going to train those employees, put up signs and inform customers that this is all happening. And while masks are mostly accepted and used in many places across the country, and a lot of people are being responsible in the face of pretty terrible circumstances, the people who choose not to are unfortunately the loud ones and the ones who could potentially put these employees at some kind of risk. So not to be alarmist about it, but there was a pretty horrific incident in Michigan in May where a security guard at a family dollar store was killed following a request that a customer wear a mask. And more

recently, also in Michigan, a man was stabbed after asking a younger man in the store to wear a mask. Police later shot the stabber and killed him. So yes, it is going to be very important to see how this all develops. America. All right. Well, that's how businesses are doing. On the state level, we've seen more and more governors start to step up with mask mandates. So let's quickly check in on where that stands. Yeah, so this is definitely a long time coming. But Alabama's Republican Governor Kay Ivey issued a mask ordinance across the state yesterday, as did Montana's Democratic Governor Steve Bullock. And so as of now, about half of the country's governors have put in at least some kind of mask requirement in public settings. So at a certain stage, the demands and dangers of COVID-19 are forcing a lot of people's hands, even if not the federal

government, and even though the issue has been so unnecessarily politicized. But to give you a sense of where public opinion is on this, in a Quinnipiac poll released yesterday, 71% of Americans said that everyone should be wearing a mask in public poll released yesterday, 71% of Americans said that everyone should be wearing a mask in public pretty high. And support has been relatively steady in public opinion polling and higher than some other countries like the UK, for example, that have had similarly fraught issues with implementing mask requirements. For the remainder of people who do not think this way yet, there are numerous studies that indicate face coverings reduce the risk of transmission as one measure, not the only measure you can take, particularly given the understanding

about how the virus can spread among pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic people. But switching gears, there is more school news, and there will be for the next few weeks as summer break winds down. Yeah, it hasn't been much of a break, but I see what you're saying. Anyway, there's new safety recommendations from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Basically, they're weighing in on the schools debate on top of what we've already heard from the CDC, as well as other groups. So essentially, they believe that in-person learning should prioritize younger children and children with special needs when it's safe and possible. I will come back to this point in a second. But in terms of the recommendations, they went further than CDC guidance, saying that the safest bet is to have everyone,

that means children, administrators, teachers, staff, everyone, wearing masks for the entire duration of the school day. So I'm sure that that's not going to sit well with all the weirdos who don't want to wear masks even now. The group also recommends regular symptom checks should be conducted, not just temperature checks. And in the long term, schools will need upgrades to ventilation and air filtration systems. And the report says that federal and state governments must, you know, pay that bill. So let's see. I guess it's infrastructure week. But back to the initial point about young children and those with special needs. The report basically found that the learning gap was hardest on young and special needs children, which is why they think that they should be prioritized.

Still, this committee avoided answering the big question on community spread, as in what level of infection in a town or city or area would make it unsafe to do in-person learning. It's also the most important question, and they just didn't offer any guidance. They also didn't say when to close and reopen schools if there is an uptick of the virus out of school. Right. Yeah. Those are the crucial questions here. And on that question, though, of community spread, a generally accepted standard put forward by epidemiologists is that things can get to a point when they're out of control when the positive test rate exceeds 5%. Some places are now using this 5% threshold as the actual guide for school reopenings. Yeah. And if you use that as a standard of when it's safe to reopen for in-person learning, then most of the nation's largest school districts wouldn't pass. Like literally eight out of 10 of

the biggest school districts, according to analysis from the New York Times. So that's a lot of people. But this is going to be a series of local decisions. And on that note, we got two more announcements yesterday from big city school districts. Philadelphia said that they'd be doing a mix of online and in-person classes, and Houston schools said that they will be online for at least the first six weeks of the school year. And here's one more thing regarding going back to school timelines. So Labor Day is the 7th of September. So if we use Memorial Day and July 4th as a metric, it would appear that the final barbecue holiday of the year could be a terrible catalyst for community spread and intergenerational spread. Tuesday the 8th and the weeks following will be a pretty good measure of if things are even

further out of control. And that's the latest. It's Thursday, WOD Squad, and for today's Temp Check, we are talking about some pretty groundbreaking news from Chipotle. The massive burrito chain wants to add as many as 10,000 employees as it opens a lot of new stores with drive-thru lanes. These Chipotle lanes are for picking up orders made online and seem like a response to post-COVID-19 customer habits. So Giddy, are you pro or anti-Chipotle lanes? I'm certainly pro the name. I hope that actually does get used and they're listening. So here's my my thing with this i sometimes have an issue at chipotle where

i get things overstuffed and sometimes there's this very tense situation where the person making the burrito accidentally rips it i feel very bad then there's like a line of customers behind us and we're making this choice on the fly do you want to have another burrito like wrap it up or do you or another tortilla wrap it up or do you want to just another burrito, like wrap it up? Or do you for another tortilla wrap it up? Or do you want to just take this as is? And sometimes it's just like take as is because that makes everybody's life easier. And I never want to be a burden. So that being said, for me, this particular situation lends itself to the possibility that I just get more messy food, and I'm a messy eater already. And in those circumstances, it would be a mess for me

personally. Yeah, got it. I mean, that's fair. I don't like a messy burrito. In the words of Bo Burnham, no one wants a messy burrito. So I feel you. Yeah, it's more of a personal issue. And I do, you know, I do like the idea. You never plan in advance what you want on the same burrito you get every time. Yeah, no, that honestly is honestly is the case is like sometimes i'm there and i'm looking at everything i'm like could could do corn today what's you know what's what's stopping me um but that being said do you think you're going to be living life in this fast chipotle lane i mean i want to say no and like you know not to scare off potential advertising from chipotle but like you know i think that maybe we focus on the consistently giving people food poisoning problem like

chipotle is always in the news for that i don't think that uh i've ever felt like that was adequately solved so different ways to get that um is not appealing to me and i also don't think that like chipotle is a food that i need to have sit out and wait for me. And I also don't think that Chipotle is a food that I need to have sit out and wait for me to come pick it up. Like, if I'm hitting traffic, I'd rather just get there and order it in front of them. I don't want to be picking up cold Chipotle,

exacerbating a problem that maybe they're trying to solve. I'm giving them an out, okay? But look, I just think sitting, just having a bowl from Chipotle sitting out, waiting for me is Chipotle gross. Yeah. To grossly. There it is.

I also think that now would be the time when the safety concerns would be the highest. So I would be slightly less concerned. But I'm also a person that probably would have gone back there after like a week and a half when the news broke anyway. So, you know, one for two of us going to the Chacal lane, I think is pretty good marks if you extrapolate that out for the American population. Oh my God. I love that our tip checks are just becoming you like confessing gross stuff about yourself.

Well, just like that, we have checked our tips. Everybody out there, stay safe. Please, you know, don't overstuff your burrito and we will check in with you all again tomorrow. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. Results from primaries in several states rolled in yesterday. And here are the takeaways. In Alabama, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions lost in a runoff for the Republican Senate nomination. Haha. The nom ended up going to a former football coach named Tommy Tuberville, who got Trump's endorsement.

Sessions' loss just shows what can happen to Republicans when Trump thinks that they're not loyal. Then in Maine, state lawmaker Sarah Gideon, great last name, took home the nomination for the Democratic Senate seat. And if fundraising is any indication there, she's got a decent chance at beating incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins, who has been unpopular in her state after voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, among other things. Lastly, the results from races trickling in from New York. Progressive candidate Mondaire Jones won the Democratic primary for a House seat, and it's looking very likely that he'll be elected to Congress in November. If that happens, he'd be the first black openly gay man in Congress. Awesome. Prominent Twitter accounts were caught up in one of the biggest hacking schemes the site has ever experienced. The hack first appeared on Elon Musk and Bill Gates' accounts yesterday

afternoon when they posted links to a Bitcoin wallet address and promised to double the money of anyone who sent Bitcoin there. The accounts kept tweeting out the link as fast as their tweets were being deleted. From there, the scam spread to the accounts of people like Obama, Joe Biden, and Kanye West, as well as companies like Apple, Uber, and Cash App. Twitter responded by temporarily shutting down large aspects of its site, which included disabling verified accounts from tweeting. I'm not bragging. I missed you guys. According to public cryptocurrency records,

the scammer earned over $100,000 as of yesterday. Congrats to them and shut the site down permanently. The 87-year-old four-time cancer survivor who stands with surprisingly little difficulty between us and the loss of our collective rights, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was discharged from the hospital yesterday after being treated for a possible infection. RBG had gone in on Tuesday after experiencing fever and chills. She is now at home and doing well after an endoscopic procedure to clean out a bile duct stent that was replaced last August. Respectfully, Justice Ginsburg, if I could, I would personally shrink down to hold your bile duct open myself. Ginsburg is the oldest member of the Supreme Court. Anyone who goes near

her should wear a cast iron face mask. Okay, the Goya food scandal we call Beamgate has been heating up over the past couple of days. It's now on fire and there are burning smells coming from America's kitchen. As we know, the Goya brand became political last weekend when its CEO praised Trump, leading to boycotts among some liberals and binge salsa verde drinking among some conservatives. Ivanka Trump waded into the bean water on Tuesday, posting a picture across her social platforms

that showed her holding a can of black beans with the caption, if it's Goya, it has to be good. FYI, the last thing Ivanka ate out of a can was probably something called diamond soup. Ivanka's post likely violates rules from the United States Office of Government Ethics, which prohibit executive branch employees from endorsing brands. However, those rules are enforced by the White House. And since Donald Trump has also been relentlessly posting Goya SponCon, it's clear nothing will come of this.

Affordable Hispanic foods are taking over the Oval Office. For what it's worth, I would much prefer a 20-pound bag of rice as the president over our current guy. Or diamond soup. Yeah, that's true. Diamond soup for president. And those are the headlines. Quick announcement before we go. There is a brand new episode of This Land out today. Host and Cherokee journalist Rebecca Nagel breaks down the historic ruling from the Supreme Court last week,

which restored much of the land in eastern Oklahoma to Native American tribes. Check out that episode along with season one of This Land. It's all available now on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, revoke our ability to tweet, please, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just bean wrecks from Ivanka Trump like me, what a day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes.

I'm Gideon Resnick. And please protect your Bitcoin. That one Bitcoin you have. The one that you've been holding onto for so long that you thought was going to turn into 100 Bitcoins. But it has. It will. Just wait. Yeah.

I think that's how it works. What a Day is a Crooked Media production. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tun is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our senior producer is Katie Long. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kshaka.